The Latest National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2022-27 marks a significant departure from its previous edition, which mainly focused on renewable energy.
What is National Electricity Plan?
- NEP guides the development of power sector which is formulated by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) every five years under Electricity Act 2003.
- The NEP provides a review of the last five years (2017-22), capacity addition requirements for 2022-27, and projections for the period 2027-2032.
New Draft:
- It Focuses on additional coal-based capacity, ranging from 17GW to 28GW till 2031-2032.
- It also highlights the need of investment in battery storage, with the requirement of 51GW to 84GW by 2031-2032
- It projects an increase in the Plant Load Factor (PLF) of coal-fired power plants from 55% up to 2026-27 to 62 % in 2031-32.
Challenges:
Inadequate Funding: The CEA report estimates that the total fund requirement for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) between 2022-27 is approximately 14.30 lakh crore
Lack of Evaluation: No Evaluation of ramping rate for thermal power plants under different solar generation scenarios.
Reliance on Old Plants: India’s fleet of coal-fired thermal power plants is over 25 years old and runs on outdated technology, which raises concerns about grid stability and power interruptions.
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